Rather than tell you the result of a new Connecticut Supreme Court case first, let’s play along with the facts at home first.Here they are: The plaintiff was hired as a laboratory manager by the defendant in February, 2006. On February 2, 2006, the plaintiff and [the defendant’s principal] signed a document that included the… Continue Reading

As I take a few days off, here’s a post from WAY back in 2009 about offer letters that you may have missed. With employers doing more hiring in 2013, it takes on added relevance. In my series of the “basics” of various employment laws (see prior installments here,here and here), this week the topic is offer… Continue Reading

Remember earlier this year when the NLRB was hinting that certain at-will disclaimers (you know, the type of language in offer letters that says that the employee is at-will and can be fired for any reason or no reason at all) might be illegal under a new reading of applicable labor law? The issue for… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, I highlighted one holding from a new case from the Connecticut Appellate Court that will be released next week. Another portion of the case dealt with interaction between the employee and the supervisor. In the case, the plaintiff alleged that she had been told by her supervisor that, after she had been… Continue Reading

Suppose that, after you’ve employed a worker for a year or so, she asks you for a raise. She doesn’t ask about any guarantee term for employment but you come back and give her a 36 month time frame for her salary going forward. You draft an employee “Employment Agreement” that says ‘‘[t]his will cover the… Continue Reading

I was hoping that fellow blogger, Jon Hyman (of Ohio Employer’s Law Blog fame), and I would get to make another World Series bet. Unfortunately, his team (the Phillies) and mine (the Yankees) are both watching the World Series from some tropical poolside bar. But it gives me an excuse to cite to a recent… Continue Reading

Take a look at your employment-at-will language right now in your employee handbook or offer letter. (I’ll wait; if you can’t find it, you’ve got larger issues than the one I’m about to discuss). It probably says something like this: Your employment with the Company is on an “at-will” basis. This means that you have… Continue Reading

Going to a trial with an employment discrimination case is expensive. Which is one reason why many employers will ask the court to dismiss a claim before trial using a process known as "summary judgment". But a recent federal court case illustrates the difficulty that employers still have in getting courts to grant summary judgment… Continue Reading

The Connecticut Labor & Public Employees Committee is now scheduled to hold a hearing on various labor bills of relevance and importance to employers in Connecticut. Some are re-hashes of bills raised last year, but others, including amendments to the state’s FMLA laws are new. The hearing is scheduled for February 5, at 2 p.m…. Continue Reading

UPDATED 2/10/09 Sometimes, by coincidence, two unrelated decision get released in close proximity to one another that they bring some greater clarity to the law. Yesterday, I discussed a Connecticut Superior Court case that found that certain discussions did not create an employment contract and that the employee was properly classified as "at-will". Earlier this… Continue Reading

Suppose you, as a hiring manager, have a discussion with one of your current employees about a job opening within the company at another location. In the course of that discussion, you indicate that you would expect that employee to work in that position for two years before moving on to other possible opportunities. After that conversation, you put… Continue Reading

As Tropical Storm Fay continues to pound Florida this week, I was recently reminded that it’s been 23 years since Connecticut suffered a direct hit from a Hurricane — the infamous Hurricane Gloria. No worries then for Connecticut, right? Wrong. Connecticut has been hit by several tropical storms since then — just like Fay — and… Continue Reading

A recent article by the Connecticut Law Tribune reported on the trial of two bar workers who claimed that they were terminated in retaliation for reporting a supervisor’s alleged sexual harassment of a waitress. According to court records In the trial of Daniel Van Kruiningen and Kimberly Chatterton v. Plan B, LLC d/b/a Mohegan After… Continue Reading

"You’re hired. No wait, you’re fired." That’s essentially what happened in the case of Petitte v. DSL.net, a decision recently handed down by the Connecticut Appellate Court. The Appeals Court rejected Mr. Petitte’s claims that the company should be estopped from firing him. The background is fairly straight-forward: Mr. Petitte applied for a position as… Continue Reading

Services

More than anything else, employment law is about relationships. Where other areas of of the law seemingly exist more on sheets of paper than in reality, employment law depends heavily on the interpersonal relationships between employers and employees. The rules governing these relationships are limitless, but it is my job as an employment lawyer to take complicated (and confusing) laws and break them into understandable concepts. That’s what I do on this publication, and that’s what I do in my practice everyday. More +

This blog/web site is made available by the host/publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law. It is not intended to provide specific legal advice to your individual circumstances or legal questions. You acknowledge that neither your reading of, nor posting on, this blog site establishes an attorney-client relationship between you and the blog/web site host or the law firm, or any of the attorneys with whom, the host is affiliated. This blog/web site should not be used as a substitute for seeking competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. Readers of this information should not act upon any information contained on this website without seeking professional counsel. The transmission of confidential information via Internet email is highly discouraged. Per a June 11, 2007 opinion of Connecticut's Statewide Grievance Committee, legal blogs/websites, such as this one, may be deemed an "advertisement" under applicable rules and regulations of Connecticut, and/or the rules and regulations of other jurisdictions.